Sherwin-Williams helped make Cleveland the paint capital of the world: PD 175

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland's reputation as the world's paint headquarters is due in large part to the 151-year-old paint and coatings company Sherwin-Williams.

With its just-completed $8.9 billion acquisition of Valspar Corp., Sherwin-Williams is now a global company with combined sales of more than $15.8 billion, 4,200 paint stores, and nearly 60,000 employees - including 3,400 workers in Cleveland.

"What Henry Sherwin started 151 years ago, leading edge first-of-its-kind product and manufacturing innovation, continues today at Sherwin-Williams and helps to drive economic development in Cleveland and around the country," said John Morikis, chairman, president and CEO of Sherwin-Williams, in a statement. He is the company's 9th CEO since its inception in 1866.

Henry A. Sherwin, who started his career in dry goods and groceries, and Edward P. Williams, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Western Reserve University, learned the paint business on the factory floor.

They worked alongside their employees, mixing and grinding pigments in a building that backed up to the Cuyahoga River, and opened their first paint store soon thereafter. The company made $422,390 in profits its first year.

But what set Sherwin-Williams apart from the other fledgling paint companies of the day was its desire to innovate: first by making its own tin cans, then the first re-sealable paint cans, and then "SWP" - its own pre-mixed, ready-to-apply paint.

The first can of Cleveland-made SWP, which promised to "cover more surface, work better, wear longer, and permanently look better than other paints," became America's top-selling exterior house paint, and remains on display at company headquarters.

Sherwin-Williams' portfolio now includes products for industrial and consumer use, for speedboats and racecars to bridges and airplanes, sold in 121 countries across six continents. The company holds more than 950 patents.

The company's latest innovation, its patented microbicidal Paint Shield, is the world's first paint proven to kill infection-causing bacteria, and was developed by more than 350 chemists, scientists and microbiologists at its Breen Technology Center in Cleveland.

"Our people are responsible for the innovation that has been and will always be fueled by a steady and wholehearted focus on helping our customers succeed," Morikis said. "They embody the company's values of commitment to our communities and reaffirm our culture of excellence and guiding values: integrity, people, service, quality, performance, innovation and growth."